OF 

JUL    2    iges  ^ 

3X^14-8 
.C8TT 


DISCOURSE, 


DELIVERED    BEFORE    THE 


GENERAL    ASSOCIATION 


CONNECTICUT, 


AT   1T3    ANNUAL    MKETINO, 


N  c  in  -  £)  a  tJ  c  n ,  I  tt  tt  t ,  18)0. 


BY   NATHANIEL   HEWITT,   D.D. 


HARTFORD. 
PRINTED   BY    ELIHU  GEER,  264   STATE -ST  REET. 


Mnroxi.. 


D  1  S  C  OURSE. 


Era.  iv.  3— 6.  "Endeavouring  to  keep  the  unity  of  the  Spirit  in  the  bond  of  peace.  There 
is  one  body,  and  one  Spirit,  even  as  ye  are  called  In  one  hope  of  your  calling ;  One  Lord, 
one  faith,  one  baptism,  One  God  and  Father  of  all,  who  is  above  all,  and  through  all,  and 
in  you  all." 

The  obvious  meaning  of  this  passage  is  the  true  one;  and 
that  is  as  if  it  read  thus  ;  —  "  The  religion  of  Christians  is 
divine,  and  it  is  therefore  one  and  the  same  in  all  of  them. 
By  means  of  il  they  coalesce  in  one  mystical  body.  United 
in  this  celestial  manner,  whatever  differences  in  other 
respects  may  appear  among  them,  are  to  be  borne  with 
reciprocal  meekness,  always  keeping  in  all  tilings  the  unity 
of  the  Spirit  in  the  bond  of  peace." 

Each  of  the  principal  members  of  this  paraphrase,  in  their 
order,  will  be  particularly  considered,  and  an  application 
to  this  General  Association  will  conclude  the  discourse. 


I.    The  religion  of  Christians)  being  divine,  is  one  and  the 

some  in  (ill  of  them. 

"  One  Lord,  one  Faith,  one  Baptism"  only  can  be  from 
heaven,  in  application  effectual,  and  in  result  eternal.  ]>y 
whomsoever  this  may  be  questioned,  it  will  be  at  once 
admitted  by  those  who  contend  not  only  that  truth  is  the 
instrument  of  sanctification,  bul  also  thai  in  no  ease  can 
tin-human  soul  be  sanctified  withoul  it.  Without  admitting 
the  necessity  of  the  presence  and  perception  of  truth  in 
every  soul  in  order  t<>  its  renewal,  yet  it  is  unquestionable 


thai  the  scriptures  throughout  .are  so  far  from  tolerating  for 

;i  moment  any  other  than  the  true  religion,  as  instituted  by 
God,  and  regulated  by  His  word,  that  on  the  contrary 
there  is  no  sin  of  man  against  which  the  Lord  our  God, 
who  is  a  jealous  God,  more  fiercely  rages,  than  that  of 
attempting  to  corrupt  or  supercede  it,  by  the  inventions 
and  commandments  of  men. 

There  are  those  who  confess  that  the  Christian  religion 
is  objectively  one  and  the  same,  who,  nevertheless,  waver 
in  their  apprehensions  as  to  its  subjective  identity  in  the 
souls  of  true  believers.  Truth,  they  admit,  is  uniform  and 
fixed  ;  but  as  perceived  by  different  persons,  it  is  various  ; 
and  also  that  it  is  in  the  same  person  different  at  different 
times. 

That  persons  called  Christians  hold  diverse  and  even 
opposite  doctrines,  and  even  true  believers  differ  in  many 
respects  from  each  other,  is  lamentably  true.  But  this  is 
far  from  being  the  same  with  the  supposition,  that  the  truth 
itself  is  a  different  thing  in  different  minds.  For  where  the 
truth  in  a  given  instance  is  apprehended,  the  perception 
itself  is  a  true  one,  otherwise  the  truth  is  not  apprehended. 
There  can  be  no  subjective  truth  unless  it  corresponds  to 
the  objective  truth. 

The  notion  that  subjective  religion  may  vary  indefinitely 
and  yet  be  true,  or  equivalent  to  the  true,  opens  wide  the 
door  to  libertinism  ;  and  by  denying  that  one  and  the  same 
Lord,  one  and  the  same  faith,  one  and  the  same  baptism 
are  essential  in  all  cases,  they  are  made  of  no  importance 
in  any. 

To  prevent  misapprehension  of  the  point  here  stated,  let 
it  be  distinctly  understood  that,  a  positive  and  uniform  faith 
and  practice,  and  that  conformable  to  scripture,  in  all  who 
pre  recognized  as  Christians,  does  not  exclude  in  believers 
a  subsequent  growth  in  grace  and  in  the  knowledge  of 
God  ;  nor,  by  consequence,  an  inequality  among  them  in 
respect  to  more  or  less  of  faith  and  holiness.  Whilst  all 
of  them  arc  partakers  of  "like  precious  faith,"  some  may 


be  stronger  than  others,  just  as  men,  women  and  children 
have  a  common  humanity,  and  in  thai  respect  are  alike, 
equal  and  entire. 

As   to    the   essential    articles  of  the   gospel    of  Christ, 
fundamental  to  a  true  church,  and  indispensible  to  rightful 
membership  in  it,  something-  will  he  said  in  the  sequel ;  and 
its  place  here   be  supplied  by  a  brief  consideration  of  the 
manner  in  which  this  subject  is  oftentimes  regarded.     Some 
are  opposed  to  all  creeds  or  confessions  of  faith.     Others 
tolerate   them,   if  they  are   short   and   indefinite.     Others 
receive   them  as  articles  of  peace,    or  mere  symbols  of 
concord.     Others  again,  as  containing  the  substance  or  raw 
material  of  doctrine,   to  be  wrought  up   at  the  will  and 
pleasure  of  individuals.     It  is  obvious  that  these  several 
classes  agree  in  the  main  as  to  one  point,  viz.  that  there 
is  no  fixed  and  definite  body  of  revealed  doctrine,   the 
knowledge    and   belief  of  which  is  a  test  of  character. 
What  James  Arminius  directly  aimed  at  230  years  ago,  and 
failed  to  accomplish,  has  come  to  pass  in  our  times,  in 
effect  if  not  in  form.     He  wished  to  comprehend  the  whole 
Protestant   world    in  one  denomination,  by  excluding  all 
creeds,   save  the  recognition  of  the  scriptures  as  a  divine 
revelation,  and  the  practice  of  the  outward  ordinances  of 
the  gospel,  and  the  maintenance  of  good  morals.     He  did 
not  regard  doctrinal  points  as  indifferent,  but  he  would  leave 
every   one  to  his  own    opinions,    free   to   maintain    them, 
provided  he  did  not  make  any  system  of  doctrine  a  test 
of  Christian   character  and  essential  to   salvation.       When 
thoroughly  sifted,  and  especially  when  their  practice  as  an 
expounder   of  their  real    opinions    is   adverted  to,   it    will 
appear,  that  so  far  as  any  test  is  used,  except  the  wish  of 
an  admission   to  their  fellowship,  it  is  one  relating  to  the 
disposition  of  men  rather  than  to  that  of  their  faith.     Moral 
qualities  are  deemed  decisive  of  Christian  character.     For 
example  —  one  affirms  that  he  wishes  to  discover  the  truth 
and  to  do  his    duty,   and  he  purposes  to  devote  himself  to 
the  pursuit  of  wisdom  and  righteousness,  adding  that  he 


holds  the  scriptures  to  be  the  word  of  God.  Now  according 
to  the  theoretical  and  practical  principle  of  those  who  are 
opposed  to  creeds  excepting  in  a  loose  and-general  way,  this 

person  exhibits  sufficient  evidence  of  Christian  character 
to  be  admitted  to  church-membership,  and  with  few 
exceptions,  so  far  as  personal  religion  is  concerned,  even 
to  the  Christian  ministry.  If  this  be  no1  so,  how  is  it  to  be 
explained,  that  persons  claim  to  be  recognized  as  Christians 
and  as  Christian  ministers,  whilst  they  cither  do  not 
positively  believe  or  do  actually  reject  articles  of  faith  held 
as  vital  principles  by  those  of  whom  they  demand  the  right 
hand  of  fellowship,  and  complain  of  them  as  oppressors  and 
persecutors  if  their  demand  is  denied  ?  On  what  other 
ground  can  this  demand  be  made  except  on  that  of  moral 
integrity,  in  sincerely  holding  his  opinions,  and  in  wishing 
and  aiming  to  discover  the  truth?  If  the  question  was, 
whether  men  possess  religious  liberty  and  the  rights  of 
conscience,  and  are  independent  of  all  human  authority  in 
matters  of  religion,  it  is  on  all  hands  already  settled.  But 
that  is  not  the  case  in  hand.  The  demand  is  made,  not  of 
the  right  to  think  for  themselves,  but  to  be  regarded  and 
treated  as  Christians,  let  them  think  as  they  may,  provided 
they  are  conscientious  therein. 

That  persons  of  this  description  are  really  indifferent  ID 
doctrinal  truth  as  a  test  of  character,  appears  in  another 
particular.  In  all  past  time  as  well  as  the  present,  men  of 
lax  faith  and  who  have  swerved  from  the  severer  principles 
of  their  age,  or  of  that  communion  in  which  they  were 
trained,  have  earnestly  desired  to  maintain  a  good  standing 
with  those  whose  belief  and  practice  they  have  renounced. 
How  now  can  this  course  be  justified,  except  on  this  general 
ground,  that  modes  of  faith  are  not  a  tesl  of  character  ? 
For  to  hold  fellowship  with  men  of  a  false  faith  is  more  than 
to  receive  others  as  Christians  with  no  faith  at  all,  but  only 
a  determination  to  embrace  one  as  soon  as  it  can  be  found. 

In  short,  there  is  no  medium  between  a  fixed  body  of 
Christian     doctrine    and     order,    commensurate    with   the 


salvation  of  individuals  and  the  integrity  of  the  visible 
church  as  the  pillar  and  ground  of  the  truth,  and  a  libertinism 
of  principle  and  practice-  more  or  less  licentious,  ending  in 
infidelity. 

Those  men  then,  who  are  tenacious  of  all  that  is  held  by 
them  as  scripture  truth  and  duty,  and  who  are  rigid  and 
uncompromising  in  their  principles,  are  right  in  one  point, 
if  not  in  all.  They  have  not  the  faith  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  or  what  they  verily  believeto  be  such,  in  respect  to 
person's.  C;ill  them  mistaken  as  to  their  faith,  if  you  will, 
and  teach  them  the  way  of  God  more  perfectly  it*  you  can, 
but  denounce  them  not  as  malignantS  and  persecutors. 


IF.   //  is  by.  means  of  their  union  in  faith  and  obedience^  that 
Christians  are  united  with  each  other. 

Having  one  Lord,  one  faith,  one  baptism,  one  Father, 
who  is  in  them  all,  true  believers  coalesce  in  one  body, 
being  members  one  of  another,  and  have  one  spirit.  Being 
joint  partakers  of  Christ,  eating  his  ilesh  and  drinking  his 
blood,  they  are  ail  one  in  him.  Hence  the  church  is  fitly 
called  the  mystical  body  of  Christ,  "  Being  joined  to  the 
Lord,  it  is  one  spirit  with  him."  The  fellow  ship  of  saints, 
is  first  with  the  Father  and  His  Son  Jesus  Christ,  and  then 
one  with  another,  as  its  natural  consequence  and  effect. 
Without  this  previous  union  with  Christ,  there  is  no 
Christian  union  with  each  other,  or  with  the  church.  New 
faith  is  the  bond  of  union  —  the  marriage-ring,  with  Christ : 
"  Christ  dwells  in  the  heart  by  faith."  This  is  the  bond  of 
union  which  when  manifested  brings  all  who  have  like 
precious  faith  together,  making  the  society  —  the  church  of 
the  faithful. 

The  union  of  men  resulting  from  their  communion  in 
the  faith  of  Christ  is  irresista.ble  and  unavoidable.  No  true 
believer  in  Christ,  when  he  discovers  the  like  faith  in 
another,    can     help    loving    him.       Re   what     he    may   in 


other  respects,  Barbarian,  Sythian,  bond  or  free  —  a  friend 
or  an  enemy  before,  ignorant  or  learned  —  a  prince  or  a 
beggar  — just  so  soon  as  the  image  of  Christ  appears  in  him, 
out  goes  his  heart  to  him,  and  he  cannot  help  it.  The. 
outward  manifestation  of  his  love  may  by  a  thousand  causes 
and  occasions  be  prevented  and  restrained,  but  the  inward 
affection  is  irrepressible. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  is  impossible  for  a  true  believer  to 
receive  and  love  as  a  brother  in  the  Lord  any  one,  who  does 
not  exhibit  the  faith  of  Christ.  However  respectable  and 
amiable  he  maybe  in  other  particulars,  or  however  closely 
allied  to  him  he  may  be  by  nature  and  all  social  and  civil 
affinities,  yet  if  he  be  not  Christ's,  or  does  not  appear  to  be 
his,  it  is  impossible  to  give  him  the  heart  of  Christian 
fellowship,  whatever  he  may  do  with  his  hand. 

For  this  faith  there  is  —  there  can  be  —  no  substitute  —  no 
equivalent.  It  may  be  counterfeited,  it  ma}'  be  denied — it 
may  be  derided  and  trodden  under  foot ;  but  it  has  no  equal. 

From  this  view  of  Christian  fellowship,  it  is  plain  that 
true  believers  are  not  at  liberty  to  make  terms  of  union  at 
their  option.  Men  can  associate  for  various  purposes  and 
with  various  persons  at  their  option,  and  dissolve  their 
societies  at  will.  Not  so  with  Christians.  The  church  is 
the  house  of  the  living  God  —  it  is  the  body  of  Christ  —  it 
is  the  temple  of  the  Holy  Ghost  —  it  is  the  pillar  and 
ground  of  the  truth.  It  is  no  contrivance  of  men,  nor  is 
it  at  their  disposal.  All  who  are  made  overseers  in  the 
church  are  not  Lords  of  God's  heritage.  The}7,  are 
overseers  to  feed  and  cherish,  not  to  work  and  drive. 
They  are  merely  ministerial  in  their  office,  and  can  neither 
originate  nor  abrogate  any  thing.  To  come  worthily  to 
the  communion  of  saints  is  not  theirs  to  give,  but  to  them 
for  whom  it  is  prepared  of  the  Father. 

The  truth  of  all  this,  is  in  a  general  way  acknowedged 
for  the  most  part,  whilst  it  is  virtually  denied  by  many. 
To  set  forth  the  present  state  of  the  visible  church  even 
when  it  is  in  its  best  estate,  and  to  assign  the  chief  causes 


0 

of  its  internal  difficulties  and  its  outward  dangers,  though 
it  would  be  seasonable,  and  might  be  useful,  is  yet  here 
and  now  impossible.  A  few  observations  only  ean  now  be 
made  ;  and  these,  if  not  heard  with  candor,  will  be  made 
in  vain.  The  terms  of  church  fellowship  take  their 
conditions  from  the  point  of  light  in  which  the  church  itself 
is  regarded.  According  to  scripture  the  final  cause  of  the 
gospel  and  all  its  ordinances,  is  the  salvation  of  souls  from 
sin  and  death  by  bringing  them  to  Christ  by  faith  in  time, 
and  by  vision  in  eternity.  In  this  sense,  the  kingdom  of 
Christ  is  not  of  this  world.  It  is  not  meat  or  drink,  but 
righteousness,  peace  and  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost.  Itcometh 
not  with  observation,  but  is  internal;  and  terminates  not 
here,  in  observation ;  for  we  walk  by  faith,  and  live  by 
faith,  and  die  in  and  by  faith.  The  redemption  of  Christ 
is  not  a  temporal  but  an  eternal  redemption  :  for  in  the 
world  the  church  is  in  tribulation  —  groaning  and  travailing 
in  pain  —  waiting  for  the  adoption,  to  wit,  the  redemption 
of  our  bodies.  Where  this  view  of  the  church  is  held,  all  its 
administrations  of  the  word  and  ordinances,  and  its  use  of 
the  keys,  will  be  regulated  by  the  one  single  principle 
mentioned  —  the  salvation  of  souls  from  sin  and  death  by 
bringing  them  to  Christ,  and  building  them  up  in  him. 
Hrrc  is  the  faith  and  pati&ice  (/saints,  and  of  them  who  keep 
(he  commandments  of  God.  On  the  other  hand,  where  the 
church  is  regarded  as  an  organ  of  this  world's  reformation, 
by  which  its  temporal  state  is  to  be  altered  and  elevated  ; 
governments,  laws,  learning,  agriculture,  commerce, 
manufactures,  manners  and  customs  to  be  redeemed  from 
the  hands  of  wickedness,  and  the  kingdom  of  Christ  become 
the  kingdom  of  this  world,  the  terms  of  communion  and 
modes  of  church. administration  will  take  all  those  forms, 
u  Inch  in  the  judgment  of  church  rulers  and  leaders,  will 
best  fit  the  gospel  and  its  institutions  to  the  regeneration  of 
the  world.  Of  course,  the  door  is  opened  to  the  wisdom 
of  men,  to  shape  divine  things  now  in  this  way,  now  in 
that,  as  occasion  and  policy  may  prescribe.  Hence  the 
2 


10 

ministry  no  longer  copies  the  example  of*  the  apostles,  who 
gave  themselves  continually  to  prmjer  and  the  ministry  of  the 
word.  They  have  something  else  to  do.  Pastors  of 
churches  give  heed  to  other  cares,  than  that  of  the  flock, 
over  which  the  Holy  Ghost  hath  made  them  overseers.  It 
would  sound  strangely  in  our  ears,  were  a  bare  recital  made 
of  the  various  employments  of  professed  ministers  of  the 
gospel.  The  apology  for  this  desecration  of  the  ministry 
is  found  in  the  supposed  adaptation  of  all  their  devices  to 
the  world's  conversion.  Just  so,  as  to  the  terms  of  fellow- 
ship in  churches  and  in  the  ministry.  Whoever  is  fitted 
for  usefulness  in  the  world,  and  makes  a  good  member  of 
civilized  society,  and  especially  if  disposed  to  aid  in 
reformation  at  home  and  elsewhere,  and  is  willing  to  con- 
form to  the  external  worship  of  the  church,  and  wishes  for 
admission  to  its  communion,  is  by  no  small  number  regarded 
as  worthy  of  it.  Here  let  no  one  say,  that  by  most  of  those 
to  whom  the  foregoing  observations  nrc  in  any  degree 
applicable,  the  spiritual  and  eternal  nature  and  design  of 
the  gospel  is  as  firmly  held  as  by  any  others,  and  is  by  no 
means  neglected.  Be  it  so.  Yet,  let  observation  and 
experience  decide,  if  the  junction  of  temporal  with  spiritual 
—  the  mixing  of  secular  with  sacred,  both  in  labours, 
expedients,  and  hopes,  has  not  been  at  the  expense  of  the 
latter,  and  resulted  in  putting  the  spiritual  and  eternal  in 
subordination  to  the  temporal.  Specifications  here  might 
easily  be  made  ;  but  that  charity  that  hides  a  multitude  of 
sins,  imposes  silence. 

The  notion  of  a  general  purgation  of  the  world,  and  its 
amendment  as  to  all  temporalities  through  the  medium  of 
the  Christian  religion,  has  some  strong  affinities,  as  to  its 
particular  effects,  to  the  notion  of  an  intermediate  slate  of 
purgation  and  amendment  after  death.  This  intermediate 
state  either  before  or  after  death,  separates  the  soul  of  man 
from  eternity.  The  preacher  for  example,  before  whose 
mind  is  spread  out  a  captivating  prospect  of  temporal 
changes  just  now  about  to  be  realized,  and  which  are  to  be 


1 1 

hastened  by  his  agency,  and  these  changes  to  be  radiant 
with  celestial  glory,  cannoi  l>ut  be  dazzled  by  the  lustre 
thereof';  and  be  detained  and  live  fixed  in  them.  Is  he 
woi  now  separated  from  eternity?  All  that  is  eternal  is 
removed  from  proximity  and  contact  with  his  soul.  Do 
you  say  thai  it  is  an  image  of  eternity?  Be  it  so.  As  an 
image  of  God,  separates  from  God  and  is  idolatry,  so  an 
image  of  the  celestial  Jerusalem,  the  eternal  city  of  God, 
here  below  separates  from  the  spiritual  and  eternal,  and  is 
carnality.  In  the  mind  of  the  Papist,  the  force  of  divine 
and  eternal  things  is  repelled  by  the  interposition  of 
purgatory.  That  intermediate  state  makes  a  great  gulph 
between  them.  Every  form  of  an  intermediate  state  of 
Christ's  kingdom  on  earth,  between  his  spiritual  dominion 
by  faith  in  the  soul  of  man  here,  and  his  triumphant  reign 
in  body  and  soul  in  glory  hereafter,  makes  a  like  separation 
and  digs  as  broad  and  deem  a  gulph.  The  extension  of 
the  gospel  to  all  nations,  and  the  conversion  of  individuals 
to  Christ,  is  a  totally  different  thing  from  an  universal  or 
general  conformation  of  nations  to  the  spirit  of  pure 
Christianity,  and  the  reign  of  universal  plenty  and  comfort 
— refinement  and  love.  Read  the  New  Testament  carefully, 
and  with  your  eye  on  this  question,  and  you  will  find 
Christ  and  the  Apostles  invariably  connecting  the  present 
with  eternity,  and  that  eternity  as  just  at  hand.  All  the 
motives  they  urge  come  from  eternity  and  return  there. 
Time  and  earth  and  outward  things  are  everywhere  and 
always  made  momentary  and  contemptible  —  nay  as 
insidious  enemies  —  to  he  watehed  against  with  ceaseless 
jealousy,  to  be  resisted  without  intermission,  and  to  be 
o\ .  rcome  and  overcome  unto  death.  In  short,  the  true 
doctrine  of  Christ  crucified,  makes,  when  it  takes  effect,  a 
double  crucifixion  —  the  true  believer  is  by  it  "crucified 
unto  the  world  and  the  world  unto  him." 

A  mistaken  philosophy  also  has  led  some  persons  to 
unscriptural  views  of  the  qualifications  for  church  member- 
ship and  the  ministerial  ollice.     They  suppose  that  there 


12 

remains  in  fallen  man,  a  natural  aptitude  to  gospel  truth 
and  o-race.  Being  thus  susceptible,  nothing  more  is 
necessary  in  order  to  bring  sinners  to  Cfmst,  than  to  present 
him  and  his  benefits  fairly  before  their  minds.  As  there  is 
a  natural  congruity,  in  the  opinion  of  these  persons, 
between  the  susceptibilities  of  man  on  the  one  hand,  and 
the  qualities  of  the  gospel,  on  the  other,  to  excite  and  to 
hold  them ;  just  as  soon  as  they  come  in  contact,  the 
attraction  of  affinity  takes  effect  in  cohesion,  and  union  is 
consummated.  The  chief  thing  wanting,  when  the  means 
of  grace  are  adequately  employed,  to  effect  this  mutual 
embrace  of  man  and  the  Saviour,  in  any  given  case,  is  the 
attention  of  the  sinner  to  the  subject.  A  purpose  to  attend 
—  a  willingness  to  open  the  door  for  the  admission  of  the 
truth,  secures  this  condition ;  and  though  the  desired  effect 
may  not  instantly  follow,  yet  the  process  is  begun,  and  if 
continued  will  certainly  reach  the  desired  termination.  A 
profession  of  religion  now  answers  two  purposes  —  it 
secures  attention  and  is  an  additional  motive  to  continued 
attention.  By  this  view  of  man's  nature,  a  consent  to 
attend  to  religion  is  substituted  for  its  actual  reception. 

Of  those  who  embrace  this  erroneous  scheme,  some 
belong  to  the  Calvinistic  communion,  and  they  reconcile  it 
with  the  doctrines  of  depravity  and  grace  as  held  by  their 
brethren  in  the  following  manner.  It  is  a  constitutional 
property  of  man  to  seek  his  own  happiness.  This  is  the 
impulsive  cause  of  all  his  voluntary  actions  both  good  and 
bad,  for  it  is  his  susceptibility  of  pleasure  and  pain,  which 
renders  him  an  active  and  moveable  being.  This  self-love, 
as  it  is  a  necessary  and  unavoidable  element  in  every  act, 
gives  moral  quality  to  none.  As  therefore  a  good  man  and 
a  bad  one  are  moved  to  action  by  the  same  impulse,  viz. 
the  pursuit  of  their  happiness,  the  difference  between  them, 
is  not  in  their  persons,  but  in  their  actions,  of  which  alone 
moral  qualities  are  predicable.  They  have  thus  the 
doctrine  of  depravity,  because  they  confess  that  mankind 
are  guilty  of  depraved  conduct  —  of  total  depravity,   for 


13 

previous  to  repentance,  they  acknowledge  that  all  the 
voluntary  acts  of  man,  arc  contrary  to  the  divine  law,  and 
thus  all  his  actions  being  depraved,  he  is  guilty  of  total 
depravity.  They  also  confess  that  man  himself  is  totally 
depraved;  but  in  a.  reflexive  sense:  his  actions  being 
depraved,  and  his  actions  being -his  own,  their  moral 
qualities  revert  back  to  him,  and  he  may  in  this  sense  be 
called  a  depraved  man.  But  this  is  not  the  evangelical 
doctrine  of  the  depravity  of  man.  That  doctrine  is,  that 
man  himself  is  depraved,  and  hence  his  actions  are  depra- 
ved ; —  "for  who  can  bring  a  clean  thing  out  of  an 
unclean  .?" 

Besides,  this  exposition  of  total  depravity  excludes  the 
doctrine  of  man's  natural  depravity  —  a  cardinal  point  in 
the  Calvinistic  system ;  and,  it  may  be  added  in  biblical 
theology.  Nevertheless,  the  persons  of  whom  we  are 
speaking,  scruple  not  to  affirm,  that  man  is  depraved  by 
nature.  They  use  the  word  nature  in  a  sense  which 
enables  them  to  say  that  man  sins  by  nature  without  having 
a  previous  sinful  nature.  Their  notion  of  self-love  furnishes 
the  solution  of  what,  on  the  face  of  it  at  least  seems  like  a 
contradiction  —  that  man  is  a  sinner  by  nature  and  yet  has 
not  a  sinful  nature.  Self-love  being  a  natural  and  blameless 
principle,  and  common  to  both  sinful  and  holy  actions,  an4 
freedom  to  act  either  way  being  also  a  natural  attribute  of 
man  as  a  free  and  accountable  agent,  he  may  be  said  tq 
act  naturally  when  he  sins,  and  to  be  by  nature  a  sinner 
and  yet  not  have  a  sinful  nature.  This  theory  is  simple  and 
easily  intelligible,  and  as  its  advocates  claim,  relieves  the 
old  doctrine  of  the  depravity  of  man,  of  its  most  difficult 
and  distressing  point,  viz.  — that  man  is  himself  depraved. 
For  if  man's  actions  only  are  bad,  he  himself  is  blameless, 
except  reflexively  and  in  relation  to  his  actions.  In  few 
words,  man  is  a  sinner  in  his  actions  and  by  them  —  not  in 
and  of  himself.  To  prevent  mistakes,  by  actions  here  are 
meant  the  internal  purpose  as  well  as  the  external  deed. 
Accordingly  in  regeneration,   no  more  is  required  than  a 


11 

change  of  conduct  —  a  reformation  of  life  —  not  any  ot 
himself.  The  change  is  in  his  actions,  not  in  him.  As  a 
sinner  he  procured  his  happiness  illegally,  as  a  saint  he 
does  the  same  lawfully;  of  course  he  is  the  same  both 
before  and  after  regeneration,  the  alteration  being  in  his 
mode  of  life,  not  in  its  principle  and  motive.  The  self-love 
scheme,  or  as  it  is  sometimes  called,  the  happiness  system, 
logically  carried  out,  results  in  a  conclusion,  from  which 
many  amongst  us,  who  seem  to  favor  that  system,  would 
doubtless  revolt.  "  For  if  our  own  happiness,  (I  borrow 
here  from  another*)  that  is,  the  happiness  of  ourselves  or 
of  the  species,  be  the  sole  object  and  rule  of  man,  he  needs 
no  other.  If  any  other  rule  is  to  be  referred  to,  to  guide 
us  in  our  pursuit,  then  this  rule,  and  not  our  own  happiness, 
is  our  ultimate  law  ;  and  this  law  would  have  no  validity 
except  as  the  dictate  of  a  supreme  authority  over  man ; 
and  that  supreme  authority  is  God  :  and  thus  obedience  to 
God,  and  not  benevolence  to  man,  either  to  ourselves  or  to 
others  is  the  criterion  of  our  duty,  and  the  essence  of  our 
perfection.  But  this  would  little  suit  the  enlightened 
eudacmonist,  who  by  his  first  maxim,  necessarily  excludes 
the  idea  of  a  divine  revelation." 

In  this  vew  of  human  nature,  and  of  man's  depravity,  it 
is  plain  that  a  purpose  to  reform  one's  life,  is  the  beginning 
of  true  holiness  ;  or  regeneration.  This  purpose  is  elicited 
by  shewing  to  man  that  his  happiness  is  best  promoted  by 
obedience  to  God.  All  therefore  that  is  needful  to  secure 
his  regeneration  —  to  elicit  this  purpose  —  is  to  present  him 
the  truth  as  to  the  pains  of  sin  and  the  profits  of  holiness. 
Whatever  secures  this  —  secures  his  effectual  reformation. 
If  he  now  be  willing  to  civehis  continued  attention  to  truth 
and  the  means  of  regeneration  and  sanctification  the  work 
is  done  as  to  his  conversion  ;  and  he  ought  to  be  forthwith 
admitted  to  the  church  as  a  disciple  of  Christ.     The  grace 


'London  Quarterly,  March,  1840.    American  Edition. 


15 

of  the  Holy  Spirit  is  acknowledged  to  be  necessary  to 
cllect  this.  Pelagius  confessed  there  was  a  langour  in  man 
which  required  the  exciting  grace  of  Cod.  But  the  work 
of  the  Spirit  was  to  revive  the  native  powers  of  man,  not  to 
infuse  new  vital  principles.  Hence  the  action  of  the  Spirit 
was  a  divine  moral  suasion  with  him,  not  a  new  creation. 
In  this  way  the  doctrinal  phraseology  of  Calvinism  in  the 
article  of  depravity  and  its  immediate  adjuncts  is  retained 
and  employed,  whilst  its  meaning  and  force  are  taken  away. 
According  to  scripture  and  the  faith  of  our  received 
standards,  depravity  is  a  personal  quality,  derived  from 
birth,  and  inherent  in  the  soul,  defiling  the  man  and  all  his 
actions.  In  the  intelligible  and  decisive  figure  employed 
by  Christ  —  the  tree  is  corrupt  and  cannot  but  bring  forth 
corrupt  fruit.  The  obvious  sense  of  scripture  as  we  read 
along  from  chapter  to  chapter  and  from  book  to  book  is  that 
men  themselves  are  corrupt,  and  all  ther  actual  wickedness 
is  ascribed  to  their  personal  depravity.  In  the  brief  and 
comprehensive  saying — "The  wicked  will  do  wicJtedm" 
wc  have  the  first  truth  as  to  this  matter,  that  sinful  actions 
proceed  from  sinful  agents. 

Regeneration  in  like  manner  is  personal,  affecting  the 
agent:  a  change  in  him  — "  Ye  —  must  be  born  again." 
Men  become  "  new  creatures"  not  by  reformation  of  life  — 
but  on  the  contrary,  they  lead  a  new  life,  because  they 
have  been  made  new  creatures,  "  created  in  Christ  Jesus 
unto  good,  works."  — In  a  thousand  forms  this  truth  appears 
throughout  the  scriptures.  And  as  to  both  points,  the 
ordinary  conceptions  of  the  body  of  plain  believers,  accord 
with  the  obvious  meaning  of  scripture.  In  all  ages  of  the 
church  pious  men  have  felt  and  deplored  their  inward 
corruptions,  and  have  prayed  for  internal  sanctification. 
The  writings  of  godly  men,  and  the  examples  of  scripture 
saints  furnish  us  with  boundless  evidence  that  according  to 
their  bitter  experience,  there  is  "  indwelling  sin"  in  man, 
independent  of  his  purposes  and  actions  —  "for  when  they 
would  do  good  evil  is  present  with  them"  and  the  "evil 


16 

which  they  would  not  that  they  do."  "  They  find  a  law  in 
their  members,  waring  against  the  law  of  their  minds,  and 
bringing  them  into  captivity  to  the  law  of  sin,  which  is  in 
their  members."  Whether  Romans  vii.  9  —  25,  be  applied 
to  man  before  or  after  regeneration  is  immaterial  to  the 
point  in  hand,  for  in  either  case  it  is  fatal  to  the  self-love 
scheme,  and  to  the  notion  of  liberty  of  choice  either  way. 
That  man  is  a  depraved  and  ruined  creature  from  his 
birth,  and  "by  nature  a  child  of  wrath,"  is  indeed  most 
appalling  !  Consternation  and  amazement  impel  us 
instinctively  to  turn  away  from  its  terrors,  and  to  resist  the 
conviction  of  its  reality.  If  we  draw  nigh  to  explore  it, 
reason  reels,  philosophy  grows  frantic,  the  spirit  faints,  and 
hope  expires.  Wretched  men  that  we  are!  who  shall 
deliver  us  from  the  body  of  this  death  !  No  wonder  that 
the  doctrine  of  man's  guilt  and  condemnation  from  his  birth 
is  the  mognum  scandahfin  of  the  system  which  holds  it, 
and  of  all  who  profess,  proclaim  and  defend  it.  When 
traced  to  its  origin  in  the  fall  of  the  first  man,  or  when 
developed  as  to  its  malignity  and  vastness  in  the  light  of 
its  remedy,  by  the  crucifixion  of  the  second  man  —  the 
Lord  from  heaven,  the  wonders  multiply  —  prodigy  on 
prodigy  !  To  know  these  things  as  true,  to  feel  them,  so  as 
they  shall  not  be  a  savor  of  death  unto  death,  transcends 
our  powers.  The  Jew  rages  and  exclaims  —  blasphemy  ! 
The  Greek  mocks  —  and  exclaims  foolishness  !  The  called 
of  God  only  —  both  Jews  and  Greeks  are  able  to  say  — 
being  strengthened  thereunto  with  all  might  by  the  Spirit 
in  the  inner  man  —  "We  thus  judge  that  if  one  died  for 
all,  then  were  all  dead !"  How  acceptable  now  to  the 
unsanctified  mind  of  man,  is  the  persuasion  that  his  case 
as  a  sinner,  though  dangerous  is  not  ruinous,  having  the 
means  of  escape  in  himself  and  at  hand.  For  if  that  love 
of  his  own  happiness,  which  has  led  him  to  sin,  is  adequate 
to  lead  him  to  repentance  and  holiness,  then  the  way  of 
life  is  as  wide  open  as  that  of  death,  and  he  is  as  capable 
of  the  one  as  he  has  been  liable  to  the  other.     This  is 


17 

indeed  a  great  light  to  them  who  before  apprehended  that 
they  wen-  in  the  region  and  shadow  of  death!  No  wonder 
that  this  cheering  belief  is  bailed  as  glad  tidings  of  great 
joy!  How  tenacious  of  it!  how  ready  and  earnest  to 
defend  it !  "  All  that  a  man  hath  will  he  give  for  his  life." 
But  we  must  hasten,  and  therefore  proceed  to  notice  the 
manner  in  which  die  doctrine  of  grace  is  disposed  o£ 
.  Recording  to  the  evangelical  system,  that  internal  and 
inherent  change  wrought  in  man  by  divine  power  in 
regeneration,  by  which  he  is  inclined  and  enabled  to 
embrace  the  gospel  with  saving  faith,  is  called  grace 
because  it  is  the  tree  gift  of  God's  mercy,  and  the  name  of 
the  cause  is  given  to  the  effect.  It  is  by  the  grace  of  God 
that  sinners  repent  and  believe  the  gospel.  As  this  grace 
is  not  common  to  all,  but  the  privilege  of  apart,  it  is  rightly 
called  special.  J  nis  word  grace,  and  the  phrase  special 
grace,  are  retained  by  those  of  whom  we  are  speaking,  but 
in  a  different  sense  from  that  just  given  them.  As  they 
explain  grace,  if  they  be  not  misunderstood,  it  is  not  a 
divine  work  in  them,  but  an  external  work  for  them,  and  on 
this  wise.  God  foreseeing  by  scicntia  m<<li<i,  that  if  certain 
of  the  children  of  men  are  brought  into  being  and  put  into 
contact  with  the  gospel  at  certain  times  and  under  certain 
circumstances,  they  will  by  means  of  self-love  and  the 
Liberty  of  contrary  choice,  embrace  it  ami  be  saved.  In 
the  behalf  of  these  persons,  and  in  infinite  kindness  to 
them  he  determines  to  give  them  being,  and  to  locate  them 
and  preserve  them  under  these  auspicious  circumstances, 
and  thus  bring  about  in  the  result  their  eternal  salvation, 
lien-  now  \& personal  election,  for  it  is  the  choice  of  God  to 
give  these  persons  being  and  salvation  in  the  manner 
specified:  —  it  i&grace,  for  it  is  in  mere  favor  to  them  thai 
he  gives  them  their  being  and  its  consequent  blessings;  it 
is  special  grace,  for  ii  happens  to  them  alone,  ami  is  an 
especial  act  of  God's  free  kindness  and  overruling  provi- 
dence.    The  phraseology  of  Calvinism  is  thus  employed, 

and  the  doctrines  of  eternal   personal   election  and  special 
-3 


grace,  are  professedly  held.  All  this  solution  turns  on 
what  is  called  scientia  media  ;  or  the  middle  knowledge  of 
God.  By  middle  knowledge  is  meant  that  knowledge  of 
God  which  is  between  his  knowledge  of  things  possible, 
and  his  foreknowledge  of  things  future,  and  it  relates  to 
contingencies  depending  on  free-will.  For  example,  God 
knew  that  if  John  was  created  and  had  the  opportunity  of 
becoming  acquainted  with  Jesus,  he  would  believe  in  him. 
He  knew  how  the  will  of  John,  (although  its  actings  were 
contingent,  having  liberty  either  way,)  would  act  under 
the  particular  circumstances  belonging  to  his  personal 
knowledge  of  Jesus,  and  his  intercourse  with  him.  By 
determining  now  on  the  creation  of  John,  and  the 
providential  disposal  of  those  circumstances,  ho  determined 
his  salvation,  and  it  may  be  called  special  grace,  and 
electing  love.  This  scheme  is  not  the  doctrine  of  election 
and  grace  as  professed  in  our  communion.  Personal 
election,  is  a  choice  of  persons  already  in  being,  or 
contemplated  as  in  being,  when  some  are  taken  and  others 
left,  both  of  which  are,  previous  to  that  discrimination, 
alike  as  to  character  and  condition,  and  by  grace  they  are 
made  to  differ  from  the  others  whom  they  before  were  like. 
"  Of  the  same  h/mjj,  one  vessel  is  made  to  honour,  and 
another  to  dishonour." 

Besides,  this  scheme  bears  a  burden,  which,  its  abettors 
being  judges,  is  grievous  to  be  borne.  For  if  the  divine 
purpose  to  give  being  to  one  whose  contingent  agency  he 
foresees  will  be  determined  to  Faith  and  salvation,  is 
properly  called  grace,  and  his  faith  and  salvation  are  to  be 
ascribed  to  the  special  love  of  God,  been  use  he  gives  him 
the  opportunity  to  save  himself;  the  reverse  of  this  picture 
presents  us  with  the  case  of  the  unbeliever  and  the  lost, 
whose  unbelief  and  ruin  God  in  like  manner  foresaw,  and 
yet  gave  him  his  being  in  view  of  his  perdition  ;  and  shall 
it  be  said  that,  his  unbelief  and  destruction  are  to  be 
ascribed  to  the  hatred  of  God  and  his  purpose  to  destroy 
him  ?  If  not,  this  scheme  is  lame,  its  legs  are  unequal,  and 
it  falls  to  the  ground. 


1!» 

In  view  ©f  these  causes  of  the  changes  made  in  the  terms 
of  communion  both  ecclesiastical  and  clerical,  it  becomes 
us  us  upright  men  and  faithful  servants  of  Christ,  to  double 
the  watch  at  the  door  of  the  house  of  the, Lord.  Names 
have  lost  their  office  to  point  out  things,  and  well  known 
symbols  and  ancient  standards  no  Longer  designate  who 
they  are  that  bear  them.  Let  no  one  be  dismayed  at 
the  taunt,  that  he  is  a  blind  and  servile  adherent  to  the 
Shibboleth  of  party,  because  he  refuses  to  make  no 
distinction  between  the  chaff  and  the  wheat,  and  to  give 
the  right  hand  of  fellowship,  asking  no  questions  for 
conscience  sake.  When  you  require  of  him  who  asks 
your  Christian  fellowship,  evidence  of  his  having  one  Lord, 
one  faith,  one  bap/ism  with  yourselves,  }Tou  may  put  to 
silence  all  clamour  against  you,  if  apostolic  authority  be 
not  abrogated  amongst  us. 


III.  and  lastly.  JVlicn  united  in  faith,  and  submitting 
to  the  authority  of  Christ  and  his  Apostles  according  to  the 
written  word,  differences  in  other  respects  appear  among 
Christians,  they  are  to  be  borne,  with  reciprocal  meekness,  always 
keeping  the  unity  of  the  spirit  in  the  bond  of  peace. 

Every  believer  is  burdensome  to  his  brethren,  in  some 
respect  or  other,  at  one  time  or  another,  and  needs  that 
"charity  which  beareth  all  things."  Peculiarities  of 
temper,  diversity  of  abilities,  inequalities  of  knowledge  and 
temporal  condition,  and  indwelling  sin  in  all,  show  that  the 
oneness  of  saints  is  spiritual  and  mystical,  not  natural  and 
ceconomical.  "How  often  shall  my  brother  sin  against 
me,  and  I  forgive  him,"  is  a  east-  of  conscience  and  a 
problem  of  love,  which  all  members  of  the  household  of  faith 
are  obliged  to  solve.  Churches  in  their  best  estate  are 
liable  to  disturbances,  and  oftentimes  of  a  tumultuous  and 
threatening  description  j  but  when  the  vital  organs  of  faith 
and  obedience  are  sound  and  entire,  peace  is  soon  restored. 


20 

and  the  unity  of  the  spirit  continues.  If  isbythe  restorative 
virtue  of  pure  doctrine  and  morals,  that  relapsed  individuals 
and  decayed  or  divided  churches,  and  fraternities  of 
churches  and  pastors  are  reclaimed.  When  this  is  wanting, 
the  vis  medieatrix  ecclesiae  is  extinct,  and  dissolution  is 
inevitable.  "  Tell  it  unto  the  church"  is  the  ultimate  resort 
of  all  gospel  plaintiffs;  but  if  the  church  be  itself  the  party 
offending,  or  if  it  be  perverted  or  indifferent,  there  is  no 
remedy. 

Hence  the  urgent  necessity  of  preserving  immaculate 
the  vital  principles  of  gospel  union  ;  for  by  these  alone  can 
all  other  evils  to  which  the  church  is  liable  be  resisted  or 
removed.  Whilst  then  all  the  infirmities,  and  even  sins  of 
Christian  brethren  arc  to  be  endured,  so  long  as  they  assail 
not  that  by  which  thoy  are  to  be  both  meekly  borne  with 
and  affectionately  reclaimed,  the  sin  that  seeks  the  heart 
and  spirit  of  Christ's  mystical  body,  is  to  be  at  once 
repelled,  and  noplace  given  to  it,  no  not  for  am.  hour.  "  If' 
the  foundations  be- destroyed  what  con  the  righteous  do ?"  If 
wood,  hay,  and  stubble,  are  mixed  up  with  gold,  silver  and 
precious  stones,  and  all  are  on  die  foundation  of  the 
prophets  and  apostles,  Jesus  Chrisl  being  die  chief  corner 
stone,  there  is  solid  footing  for  patience  and  hope.  Wood. 
hay  and  stubble  are  perishable  and  momentary;  they 
disfigure  but  they  do  not  corode,  they  may  conceal,  bul 
they  do  not  annihilate  the  gold  and  precious  stdnes  of  the 
sanctuary,  neither  do  they  crush  its  foundation. 

The  constituent  elements  of  "the  faith  once  delivered 
to  the  saints,"  fundamental  to  the  being  of  a  sound  and 
healthful  christian  community,  are  the  doctrines  of  Eternal 
Personal  Election  —  Original  Sin  and  Native  Depravity  — 
Particular  Redemption*  —  Efficacious  Grace — and  Final 


*  New  England  Calvinista  have  been  accustomed  to  make  a  distUfltton  between  redemption 
and  atonement.  In  redemption  they  have  included  the  application  of  the  atonement  by  the 
special  agency  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  While  therefore  they  have  held  to  general  atonement,  they 
have  held  to  particular  redemption. 


21 

Perseverance.  Scripturally  understood  and  cordially 
embraced,  they  are  the  vital  truths  of  the  Gospel  of  our 
salvation.  They  are  several  in  enumeration,  and  distincl 
in  apprehension,  yel  they  are  essentially  one  —  one  body  — 
one  spirit.  If  any  amongsl  us  are  otherwise  minded,  lei 
them  openly  and  explicitly  show  wherein  they  dissent,  and 
their  reasons  for  it,  and  if  they  are  nol  as  openly  and 
explicitly  mel  and  refuted,  it  will  be  because  "  there  is  not 
left  a  prophet  in  Israel."  As  to  the  meaning  and  compass 
of  these  several  points,  they  cannot  be  better  defined,  than 
they  are  in  our  Confession  of  Faith  —  the  doctrinal  articles 
of  Saybrook  Platform. 

Happily  forthe  Congregational  Ministry  and  Churches  of 
Connecticut,  a  body  of  evangelical  doctrine,  which  from  the 
beginning  united  those  who  have  held  it  one  to  another,  to 
scripture  and  to  Christ,  remains  with  us  unaltered  and 
unrepealed.  Whatever  here  and  there  a  particular  church 
may  have  done  to  the  contrary,  or  ministers  on  their 
private  responsibility  may  have  preached  or  published 
impugning  either  of  those  cardinal  truths  above  mentioned, 
or  the  spirit  and  scope  of  the  whole,  that  symbol  of  ih<' 
faith  and  fellowship  of  the  Fathers  has  never  been  sel  aside, 
by  any  act  annulling  its  legal  or  moral  obligation  on  every 
minister  associated  here,  or  in  the  districts  within  our 
bounds,  and  on  each  consociated  church.  Howeverremiss 
our  immediate  predecessors  or  we,  may  have  been,  in  our 
duty  both  to  have  and  to  hold,  to  teach  and  to  require  with 
all  earnestness,  this  body  of  doctrine,  that  remissness 
inculpates  not  thai  form  of  sound  words  and  gospel 
ordinances  under  which  we  wen;  nurtured,  and  whose 
possessions  we  occupy,  but  ourselves.  If  present  or  past 
unfaithfulness  or  disaffection  annuls  any  thing,  it  Is  not  the 
righl  and  title  of  Saybrook  Platform  to  its  authority,  but 
our  righl  and  title  to  the  name-  we  bear,  to  the  posts  we  fill, 
and  the  associated  fellowship  we  profess  to  observe.  All 
this,  It  i  it  be  repeated,  is  well  for  as,  and  for  those  who 
may  come  after  US.      Had  our  Fathers  lefl  ns  their  >e\eral 


22 

usages  and  opinions  only ;  bad  they  lived  without  form 
and  order,  dissociated,  and  independent,  with  no  other 
intercourse  than  that  which  was  accidental  or  occasional, 
without  a  common  and  acknowledged  symbol  of  their  faith 
and  worship,  anomolous,  heterogeneous,  vagrant  as  to  their 
theology,  we  might  well  exclaim  —  these  are  usages,  mere 
usages  —  of  no  more  force  than  other  customs  and  fashions, 
which  are  always  and  everywhere  changeable  and  evan- 
escent. 

Usages   may  be    displaced  by  usages,  as  one  custom 

or   fashion  is  pushed  aside  by  another.        Not   so   with 

solemn  covenants  —  with  constitutions,  with  those  organic 

compacts,  symbols  and  ordinances  which  unite  many  into  a 

body  corporate  and  politic  fitted  to  include  thousands  and 

tens  of  thousands,  and  intended  to  be  transmitted   from 

generation  to  generation.      Each  subsequent  accession  of 

individuals  to  a   community  thus  formed  involves  on  their 

part,  an  express  or  implied  assent  to  its  principles,  and  a 

promise    to   abide    by  them.     And   no  release   from    this 

obligation  can  be  infered  or  implied  from  the  carles  sue  ss  of 

those  who  admit  or  the  ignorance  and  indifference  of  those 

who  are  admitted  to  its  privileges.     There  is  but  one  way 

of  avoiding  the  charge  of  faithlessness  and  hypocricy  in 

cases   of  this    sort,    when    the    symbols   of    a    religious 

community,  no  longer  express  the  actual  faith  of  those 

whose  public  standards  they  are  ;    and  that  is  by  altering 

or  abrogating  them  with  the  like  solemnity  with  which  they 

were  formed,  adopted  and  ratified.      Until  this  be  done,  no 

subterfuge  will   avail,  from  numbers,  from  the  sanction  of 

particular  names  however  venerable,  from  public  opinion, 

from  the  lapse  of  time,   or  any  other   cause,    to  shield  a 

Christian  denomination  from  the  reproach  of  being  one 

thing  in  name  and  another  in  reality.      Of  a  revolution  of 

this  sort,  we  have  no  indications;   for  one  and  all  proclaim 

themselves  Caivinists,  and  glory  in  the  name.     A  suspicion 

to   the    contrary,    and    much   more   an   open  charge   of 

Arminian  or  Pelagian  heresy,  is  resented   as  an  injury, 


•<:: 


and  repelled  as  calumny.  When  certain  statements  of 
doctrine,  or  modes  of  explaining,  vindicating  and  applying 
them  arc  excepted  against,  as  being  in  effeel  a  subversion 
of  the  cardinal  points  of  the  system  which  is  in  force 
amongst  us,  the  reply  is,  that  there  is  no  variation 
essentially  and  of  much  moment  in  these  new  views  ;  that 
they  are  but  shades;  —  that  shades  of  difference  hinder  not 
substantia]  agreement.  If  this  be  so,  the  day  of  concord  — 
of  unity  in  spirit  in  the  bonds  of  peace,  cannot  be  afar  off. 
For  if  these  shades  are  merely  shades,  and  those  who 
make  them  are  the  servants  of  Him  who  is  without 
"variableness  or  shadow  of  turning,"  they  will  not  long 
ulorv  in  that  as  an  honorable  distinction,  which  to  say  the 
least  of  it  is  a  badge  of  human  imperfection.  "Shades  of 
difference,"  of  which  we  often  hear,  may  mean  much,  or 
little,  or  nothing  at  all.  One  thing  they  certainly  mean  — 
and  that  is  a  difference.  If  they  be  of  so  trivial  a  description 
as  to  be  beneath  solemn  and  earnest  rebuke  and  resistance, 
they  are  too  trivial  for  the  notice  of  those  who  bring  them 
forward  and  glory  in  them.  When  men  filling  the  sacred 
office  of  the  ministry,  descend  from  their  high  and  holy 
vocation  to  the  making  of  shades  of  difference,  which 
minister  questions  for  strife — difference — rather  than 
godly  edifying,  their  occupation  cannot  be  Long.  Weariness 
and  disgust  will  bring  them  to  a  better  mind,  or  the 
churches  will  provide  for  themselves  better  ministers, 


APPLICATION. 

Fv  view  of  the  presenl  posture  of  our  ecclesiastical 
afiairs,  Christian  Brethren,  the  question  ha-  been  publicly 

pul  to  US,  "  whal  shall  be  done  :"  The  answer  I  have  to 
return  is  obvious  in  this  discourse.  I  speak  here  for  one  ; 
and  for  one  only,  c\e(]»i  in  so  far,  as  ihe  scriptun  -  speak 
by  me.  All  contentions  would  cease  amongst  us,  were  it 
to  appear  unequivocally,  that  the  doctrines  of  our  Con- 


2± 

fession  of  Faith  arc  cordially  held  in  their  genuine  import. 
This  will  make  peace,  and  nothing  else  will,  and  nothing 
else  should.  Until  this  comes  to  pass,  every  sound 
member  of  our  churches  and  our  ministry,  can  do  no 
otherwise  than  to  bear  testimony  to  the  truth  both  in  word 
and  deed,  according  to  the  place  he  fills,  and  the  official 
acts  lie  may  be  called  to  perform.  This  testimony  will  not 
be  fruitless,  whilst  it  exonerates  him  who  makes  it,  from  the 
"guilt  of  being  a  partaker  of  other  merits  sins"  and  of 
"  bring  ashamed  of  Christ  and  hisivord,"  it  is  mighty  through 
God,  for  the  defence  of  the  faith  when  assailed,  and  its 
recovery  when  trodden  underfoot.  "  The  time  to  favour 
Zion  has  come,  when  her  sons  take  pleasure  in  the  dust 
and  stones  thereof." 

Christ  came  into  the  world  "  that  he  might  bear  witness 
to  the  truth ;"  and"Ae  was  faithful  and  true."  As  his 
ambassadors  to  lost  men,  and  as  the  shepherds  of  his  people, 
we  follow  his  steps  the  most  closely,  and  do  the  work  he 
assigns  us  the  most  acceptably,  when  we  too  bear  witness 
to  the  truth.  The  best,  argument  wrliich  we  can  offer  to 
prove  that  truth  to  be  of  God,  and  worthy  of  all  accepta- 
tion, is  its  power  on  ourselves,  which  by  making  us  faithful 
unto  it,  makes  us  faithful  in  all  things  else.  This  is  the 
"wisdom  which  is  from  above"  —  a  divine  philosophy  — 
pure,  peaceable,  gentle,  easy  to  be  entreated,  fall  of  mercy 
and  good  fruits,  without  partiality  and  without  hypocrisy." 
This  divine  philosophy  no  lexicon  can  define,  no  school  can 
teach.  No  vender  of  the  wrisdom  of  words  can  sell  it  for 
money  or  for  fame,  no  hypocrite  can  counterfeit  it,  and  no 
thief  can  steal  it.  It  derives  no  power  from  the  great,  no 
dignity  from  the  learned,  no  ornaments  from  the  rich.  Willi 
these  or  without  them  —  over  them  as  a  queen,  or  under 
them  as  a  victim,  it  is  the  same,  incorruptible,  unchangeable 
and  immortal. 

Having,  Christian  Brethren,  no  infallible  head  on  earth 
10  determine  whatever  controversies  may  subsist  amongst 
us,  and  no  metropolitan  or  diocesan  overseers  to  inspect  us, 


to  rebuke  llie  turbulent,  to  correct   the  erroneous,  and  to 
cast  out  the  herel  ical,  we  in  our  several  places,  as  occasion 
may    require,    may   fulfil  our  office  as  witnesses  to  the 
truth.     No   power   is   wanting    to   do   this,    and    to   do   it 
effectually,  other  than  the  "  spirit  of  wisdom,  of  power, 
and  of  a  sound   mind."     Singly  or   jointly,    with    less   or 
more  of  formality,  with  many  or  few,  we  may  as  to  right, 
we  should  as  to  duty,  we  can  as  to  ability  (if  of  the  truth 
ourselves)  give  testimony  to  the  "  faith  as  it  is  in  Jesus."  As 
this  faith  is  not  a  speculative  theory,  but  a  divine  revelation  ; 
as  it  is  not  of  men,  nor  by  men,  but  of  God,  and  by  the 
Holy  Ghost; — as  sin  and  death  on  the  one  hand,  and 
righteousness  and  life  on  the  other  are  its  material ;  —  as  it 
is   communicated   by   regeneration,    and   not   by   human 
persuasion ;  —  and  as  it  is  upheld  and  continued  in  the 
world,   not  by  policy,  or   intrigue,    by    combination  and 
address,  by  wealth,  patronage  and  such  like,  but  by  super- 
natural grace  and  God's  omnipotence  ;  we  need  not  fear  to 
bear  witness  unto   it,    however  scant}7"   our  talents,    and 
learning,  and  rank,  and  wealth,  and  numbers,  may  he.     In 
this  case,  —  "  they  that  be  for  us,  are  more  than  they  thai  be 
against  us."     "  Ye  see  your  calling,  brethren,  how  that  not 
many   wise  men   after  the  flesh,    not  many  mighty,   not 
many  noble  —  But  God  hath  chosen  the  foolish  things  of 
the  world  to  confound  the  wise  ;  and  God  hath  chosen  the 
weak  things  of  the  world  to  confound  the  things   that  are 
mighty  —  and  base  things  of  the  world,  and  things  which 
are  despised  hath  God  chosen,  yea,  and  things  which  are 
not  to  bring  to  nought  things  that  are,  that  no  flesh  should 
glory  in  his  presence."     "  The  form  of  sound  words,"  — 
"  The  faith  of  God's  elect,"  gives  light  to  all  other  lights, 
and  borrows   from  none  of  them.     It  gives  substance  to 
philosophy,  without  which  it  is  wind  and  confusion  ;  —  it 
gives  sense  to  learning,  without  which  it  is  vanity  and  vexa- 
tion of  spirit ;  —  it  gives  righteousness  to  man  without  which 
he  is  a  felon  in  chains ;  it  illuminates  the  world,  without 
which  it  is  the  region  and  shadow  of  death.     "  Where  is 

4 


26 

the  wise, — where  is  the  scribe,  —  where  the  disputer  of 
this  world  ?  Hath  not  God  made  foolish  the  wisdom  of 
this  world  ?"  No ;  Brethren  —  no  —  there  is  nothing  to 
fear  for  the  faith.  The  fear  is  for  ourselves,  lest  w*e  desert 
it.  The  victory  we  are  to  win,  is  not  for  the  Gospel  to 
make  it  triumphant,  but  for  otirsches,  that  we  be  constant. 
As  to  God's  word,  he  will  see  to  it,  that  it  shall  not  return 
unto  him  void,  and  the  gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail 
against  it. 

The   gates  of  hell  assaulting    the   kingdom  of  Christ 

prevail  not  against  it ;    but  alas  !  howT  many  of  its  visible 

members  !  —  how  many  of  its  ministers  !  —  yea,  of  its  men 

of  renown,    who  have  done   many    mighty    works,    are 

overpowered  and  led  away  to  captivity  and    death !    In 

times   like  ours,   of  convulsion,    revolution    and  all   but 

universal  lawlessness  and  self-will,  it  is  necessary  that  the 

cautionary  words  of  Christ,  "  he  that  endureth  to  the  end, 

shall  be  saved"  should  be  continually  thundering  in  our 

ears.     He  is  the  wise  man,  who  knows  that  temptation  is 

to  be  resisted ;  and  he  the  great  man  that  does  it.     The 

faith  and  patience  of  saints  makes  them  thus  illustrious  in 

wisdom  and  power.     If  }'ou,  Christian  Brethren,  are  thus 

taught  of  God,  and  armed  with  his  might,  sarcasm,  and 

calumny,  and  conspiracy,  and  oppression,  and  poverty, 

and  exile  will  make  you  martyrs,  but  will  never  avail  to 

make  you  traitors.     Make    God's  word  the  law  of  your 

reason,   and  you  cannot  err  ;    the  law  of  your  will,  and 

you  will  not  sin  ;  the  law  of  your  hopes,  and  you  will  never 

faint.     It  is  a  lawless  reason  which  makes  the  heretick  — 

a   lawless     will    the    schismatick  —  lawless    hopes    the 

malignant  —  and    altogether    the    apostate    and    son    of 

perdition.     To  the  law  then  and  to  the  testimony :  these 

can  never  be  broken.     Glory  ye  in  his  holy  name.     If 

God  be  for  us,  who  can  be  against  us  ?  Lift  up  the  heart  — 

lift  up  the  voice  —  put  on  strength — fear  not,  for  he  is 

with  thee  —  be  not  dismayed,  for  he  is  thy  God. 


Princeton  Theolo9i 


,cal  Scminary-Speer  Library 


1    1012  01082  0258 


DATE  DUE 

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